Plow-shield.



No. 795,429. PATENTED JULY 25, 1905. J. C. GULBERTSON. PLOW SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17. 1905.

u lllllh UNITFD STATES PATENT FFICF.,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1905.

Application filed January 17, 1905. Serial No. 241,511.

To @ZZ 1071/0771, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. CULBnn'rsoN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing atDeercreek, in the county of Tazewell and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlow-Shields; and I do hereby Ydeclare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description oi' the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has reference to plowshields.

The primary object of the invention is to place the shields of a plow orcultivator in a rigid position while cultivating young corn.

A further object of the present invention lies in the provision ofa-cutter to precede the shield for the purpose of cutting all stalks orother obstructions lying' in front of the said shield.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means for obtainingcertain vertical and horizontal adjustments of the shield, as well asvertical adjustment of the cutter.

The use of a shield in cultivating corn is not new, and in theemployment of these devices it has been the practice to pivot them uponthe cultivator or plow beam, allowing them to float at will by followingthe contour of the surface of the iield passed overl The result of thispractice has been disastrous from the fact that said shields whenencountering an underlying stalk or root or other obstruction thedragging of that obstruction has pulled the young corn from the ground,and especially if the corn has happened to grow up through the saidobstruction. Much corn has thus been lost, and it is therefore my objectto overcome the objections to this manner of carrying the shields.

In the appended drawings, Figure l is a top view of severalcultivator-beams and their shovels, showing the location of the shieldsand the manner of attaching them pivotally to said beams in the ordinarymanner. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a cultivator-beam, showing myshield and cutter and the means for attaching and adjusting the same onsaid beam. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a cultivater-beam and itsshovel, showing an arm secured to the former, on which the cutter andshield are mounted. Fig. A is a perspective view of a fitting by whichthe said cutter and shield are adjusted vertically or horizontally, orboth. Fig'. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of an arm similar tothat shown in Fig. 3 for attachment to the cultivator-beam, on which therear end of the shieldV is supported for adjustment. Fig. 6 is a topview of a portion of the cultivator-beam and an arm clamped thereto.

In Fig. l the cultivator-beams are represented by the letter A, theshovels by B,while the shields C are located between the two middleshovels and are pivoted on the middle beams by means ofthe arms D. Theother iigures of the drawings show the arrangement of the shields, inwhich A is the cultivator-beam, havingashovel B, as is customary.Adjacent to the said shovel is the shield C, which stands vertically,the forward end having attachment with and supported in the uprightposition by a forwardly and upwardly extending arm D, that portion ofsaid arm lying near the shield being horizontal and the-portion in theregion of the beam A being vertical, said vertical portion holding aposition within a vertical opening or slot E of a fitting F Gr, slidablycarried on an arm H, secured, by means of a clip J, to the beam A, asshown in Fig-6. It will be noted that the slot E extends from theportion F of the said iitting into the portion Gr, whereby the arm H isexposed within said slot. The arm D, before mentioned, occupies the saidslot E, and one of its edges contacts with the arm H, being heldthereagainst by means of a set-screw K in the portion F.

By this means it will be at once evident that the friction between thearm D and the arm H and screw K by the tightening of the latter willserve to hold the various parts in a iirm position, the screw serving topermit either a vertical adjustment of the arm D or a horizontalmovement of the fitting F G along the arm H. In front of the shield C, Iprefer to place a rolling cutter L, the adjacent edgeof the said shieldbeing curved to allow it to approach closely to said cutter, as shown,while the lower corner behind the cutter is beveled backward, as at M.Said cutter is supported in a vertical fork N, having a stem O, whichhas bearings c e in the arm D and an auxiliary arm or rod at D', whoseone end is secured to the arm D well forward of the cutter and whoseother end is attached to the arm and shield by being downturned from theregion of the bearing of the said stem O. Thus the latter member isprovided with a rigid support,.and vertical adjustment of the cutter ishad by the use of the adjustable collars P P, the set-screws P Ppermitting the desired changes, as will be understood. The fork N iscarried backward of the axis of the stem O, so that the center of thecutter will be behind said axis, whereby the said cutter is permitted tocaster or follow the movements of the implement.

In addition to the construction already described I secure to the beam Aan arm It, similar to H and attached in the same way, to which isadjust-ably secured a downwardlyextending rod S, by means of the headTand its set-screw U, all of which provides for a horizontal adjustmentof said rod S. The lower extremity of the latter is bifurcated, as at V,each portion having holes therethrough for receiving a bolt IV. A hole(not shown) in the shield permits said bolt to pass through the fork andshield, the holes providing for any vertical adjustment of the saidshield that may be desired.

As has been stated hereinbefore, it has been the custom to permit theshields to Float at will during the cultivating operation; butby reasonof the disadvantages mentioned it has been found to be expedient to fixthe shield at the desired elevation with reference to the shovels. Ihave also found it to be of advantage to precede the shield with thecutter mentioned, so that every obstacle will be severed, so that therecan be no possibility of uprooting the corn, and I wish to make itclearly understood that it is not the intention to confine myself to theparticular means herein described for accomplishing the adjustments ofthe various parts, since other equally good means may be employed toaccomplish the same end. It is of course desirable to keep the cutterslightly lower than the shield in order that a free passage may be cutfor the passage of said shield, and I have provided for adjustments inany and all directions for the shield, so that various effects may beobtained in the cultivating operation.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is4 l. In acultivator, the combination of the shovel-beam thereof, a shieldadjacent to the i shovel, an arm secured at one end to the rear 1 of theshield, the other end secured to the said beam for both vertical andhorizontal adjustment, a second arm, secured to the free end of theshield and extending forward and upward and secured. to the beam andcapable of horizontal and vertical adjustment, and a rolling cutterjournaled on the latter arm inimediately forward of the shield andadapted to easter at will.

2. In a cultivator, the shovel-beam, a shield adjacent thereto, an armadjustably secured to the rear end of the shield and also adjustable onthe beam, a second arm secured to the beam for both horizontal andvertical adjustment, a rolling cutter forward of the shield andjournaled on the said second arm, the forward end of the shield beingrecessed to admit the cutter as shown and for the purposes described,the shield and cutter having' fixed relative position while inoperation.

3. The combination of the plow-beamAand its shovel B, the shield Cadjacent to the latter, the adjustable member D secured to the shield,the arm H on the plow-beam, means for adjustably securing the saidmember D to the said arm H and permitting vertical and horizontaladjustment, the arm R on the plowbeam, the arm S attached to the shieldand means for adjusting the said arm S horizontally and the rear end ofthe shield vertically for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination of the plow-beam A and its shovel B, the shield Cadjacent to the latter, the adjustable member D secured to the shield atits 'forward end, the arm H on the plow-beam, means for adjustablysecuring the said member D to the said arm H the same perinittingvertical andhorizontal adjustment,

the cutter L having bearing on the member D forward of the shield, andmeans for adjustingl the rear end of the shield vertically andhorizontally for the purposes set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. CULBER'ISON. Witnesses:

HENRY C. OBmnN, FRANK L. BnLsLY.

